Harbinger of Destiny
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: Centuries after the death of a hero, after the end of an era, earth is reduced to chaos. After years in stasis, an unlikely ally is awoken under the strangest of circumstances to guard the son of the hero. NarutoxHarem! Fluff! Language! Violence! Tech!
1. Motherhood

**A/N: I am dissapointed. Severely so. I just played Mass Effect, and, while I have yet to beat it, I got curious and took a peek at the ending. And this is what I said. What. The. HELL! All of the endings suck! Except maybe the synthesis ending. Even then...WTF! It was a great game, right up until the end! And then, oh, then, so dissapointing! They had better make an EPIC DLC or another Mass Effect ASAP because that was not fair to we, the fans, who have worked and played so hard on the series for six years in a row. I am dissapointed in your, Bioware. YOU FAIL! There was one bright spot, however. A certain psychotic biotic amused the hell out of me.**

**This is a story of that bright spot.**

_Anyone touches my kid...and I will tear them apart. _

_~Jack._

**Motherhood**

There is a saying in this universe:

Never screw with a mother bear and her cubs.

The same saying could be applied to this situation as a one woman army laid waste to the village of Konoha. That's right. One woman, alone and unguided was singlehandedly laying waste to the one of the strongest hidden villages to ever exist. And she was doing a damned good job of it.

She was terrifying and terrible to behold. She was beautiful. Her hair, once bound back into a braid over her forehead, now lay long and loose around her shoulders, flying out as if by an unseen wind. Tattoos adjourned most of her visible flesh, leaving little to the imagination. It was hard to see where the ink disappeared and the woman began, but one thing remained painfully clear as she stormed through the streets.

_She was pissed._

"Shepard," She murmurred beneath her breath, her hands working into glowing fists. "I swear, I'm going to find you...and when I do_...I am going to fucking kill you!"_ And she would kill him, she swore to herself. She'd drag him back from the grave, revive him, and kill him herself! She hadn't wanted this! She hadn't wanted to wake up in an era not her own, only to find that she'd given birth not minutes before reawakening. She was dizzy, terribly so, but she was coherent now. She was sane.

And she was fucking pissed off!

The night before the last battle against the massive metallic entities known only as the reapers, she'd realized something. She'd been pregnant. That jackass of a commander had done the unthinkable, the impossible. He'd gone and knocked her up! Furiously, she'd confronted him. Shepard's response hadn't been entirely predictable. He'd seemed happy enough, but then, just as she thought everything was alright, that everything was fine, that they'd somehow find a way out of this, he'd gone from knocking her up to _knocking her out._ That's right. It stung to think that he'd cared enough to do that, but it was what he'd done.

Now, centuries later, she finds herself on a strange planet; complete with strange people, in a strange place, and realizes that her kid was about to be used for some diabolic ritual that involved the sealing of some sort of creature into his stomach. At least, that was what she'd been able to understand while under the damned anestheisa. They'd made the mistake of assuming she wouldn't fight back. They'd made the mistake of _assuming_ she'd be too intoxicated; that she'd only be able to writhe in agony as her body gave birth; as Shepard's child was taken from her.

They'd been wrong.

Screw around with someone enough, and you turn them into an all powerful bitch. Screw around with someone's kid, and you were practically _asking_ for your head on a silver platter. Cerberus had done that to her once, and she'd be damned if she let these people wake her up out of stasis, wrest her child from her arms and take her life. Of course she'd rebelled. She'd lashed out; tearing the medics them limb from limb wih raw biotic fury. She'd lain there for some time, recovering her strength, waiting for the rest of her numbed body to respond.

She swore, _swore_ she was hopping the first ship she found and jumping the next Mass Relay to the planet Earth. As soon as she found the kid she'd supposedly popped out. It was funny, considering she had no idea what he looked like. She hadn't even been able to hold him in her arms before they'd taken him away from her. It made her her want to shoot someone. It made her angry.

She turned, _turned_ as she rounded a corner and found herself face to face with the strangest fucking thing she'd ever seen. She gawped up at it, unable to believer her eyes, nor her ears. She was staring at a giant toad, and it was doing battle with a giant fucking fox. _A fox!_ She snorted, blowing a strand of hair away from her eyes. It was during times such as these she regretted growing her hair back.

She didn't care about that now. All she cared about was getting And then she saw him. The giant toad and fearsome fox had all but disappeared, leaving nothing but silence in their wake. Then she heard the crying. _Then she saw him._ There, wrapped in the blankets, laid out across some ceremonial altar, with the dead bodies of a man and a woman laying near him. It was a boy. Her boy. She didn't know how to explain it, but somehow, she just knew. From the moment she laid eyes on him, _she knew._

_That was her baby._

And he was surrounded.

"Get your fucking hands off of," She spoke, the words emerging as little more than a feral hiss, _"My son!"_ Before anyone could protest, before anyone could speak, before any one could do anything, she struck. Men and women, civilians and shinobi alike, they flew. _Literally._ Their feet left the earth as a bluish white blast pushed them from their feet and launched them skyward, spattering them across the buildings and ground them into a series of gory smears.

Apparently, centuries in stasis had done precious little to curb the woman's ferocious temper. She reached for him, scooping the infant off the altar and into her arms. Hushing its soft cries she held the infant against her bosom, ignoring the tears in her jacket as she held him close. Ignoring _her_ tears as they streamed down her face and obliterated a century of frozen makeup from her face.

"Wait!" An elderly man wearing outdated armor, cried. "Who are you?" She stole a glance at her shoulder, amused to find that someone of them had survived her biotic blasts after all. One of them, the old geezer wearing black armor, had been the one speak to her.

"The name's Jack." She replied half-heartedly.

"You cannot take him from us!" This from another old man, who looked to be predominately wrapped in bandages. Jack paused, waiting. _Waited._ Then she reached across the courtyard with a biotic field and pulped the man's head like an overipe tomato. Someone screamed. Jack repeated the motion, and an elderly woman fell to the ground. Bodies twisted and writhed as they spoke up, one after the other.

Soon, there were precious few left, save the old man and those wise enough to keep their mouths shut in the wake of her violent attack. Surprisingly, her son_-Shepard's kid-_had stopped crying during the attack. Now, he stared up at his mother with wide, disbelieving eyes, and a toothless smile on his little face. Jack couldn't help but to smile as well, tucking the infant closer to her chest. This was her kid. Hers. If anyone laid so much as a fucking finger on him...she'd tear them apart. It was a sweet, tender, precious moment.

And then the old geezer had to go and ruin it by speaking up.

"What do you plan to do with him?" The old man asked, staring meaningfully at the infant in her arms. "What do you plan to do with Naruto?"

_What kind of shitty ass name is that?_

"Screw you." Jack scoffed, glaring bloody red daggers at the Sandaime. "He's _my_ kid and I'll do whatever I fucking please with him."

And thus the legend of the psychotic biotic began anew.

**A/N: Yeah, just played Mass Effect 3. Jack. Was. AWESOME! Very protective of her kids. Extremely protective, and vindictive as hell! I almost feel sorry for her enemies. Almost, but not quite. That was how this fic was born. Imagine Uzumaki Naruto, with possibly THE most powerful human biotic in all the world...as his mother. I shudder at the very thought of it...and so shall Konoha. Also, yeah. It's kinda implied that Naruto is actually the son of Shepard and Jack, not Minato and Kushina. Not quite sure where this is going to go, if anywhere at all, but yeah, I had to post this for the sake of my sanity. I plan to update the rest of my fics after this one, so be sure to review this one, and stay tuned for updates! And yes...**

**...I JUST MURDERED DANZO! MWAHAHAHA! And the Mass Effect Choice Engine will be included in this story as well, so be sure to vote on that and all of the potential decisions Naruto can make in the near future! There will be many and they will be quite diverse!**

**R&R! =D**


	2. Motherhood II

** A/N: Dear god this idea was too amusing to pass up. Someone gave me the idea for a second chapter and I ran with it like Andrew Luck. Of course the last review I got also helped get me up offa my ass to start writing it again. I know I've been pumping out new stories as of late, but I try to at least update several fics beforehand as you've see. Right now I'm trying to focus on She is my Noble Mistress, a but updates will come for other stories. In the end, its all about inspiration =D And on that note...**

**...please enjoy the next chapter of Harbinger of Destiny!**

_"God this kid is loud!"_

_~?_

**Motherhood**

Alarms vied with the sound of inhuman screams and explosions for dominance, creating a dissonant racket all around her. Once, Jack would've gloried in it. Reveled in the chaos and the calamity and the confusion as if they were her own, just as she had all those years ago. Now she wanted nothing more than for the insatiable din to cease. Groaning, she flopped out of bed, haphazardly hammering the alarm with a tattooed hand that nearly broke the clock outright. She no longer felt the spike of adrenaline at being woken so suddenly; the rush of enorphins was painfully absent now that she knew the cause.

_Naruto was hungry._

Biting back a snarl, the biotic pushed_-and cursed-_the auburn tresses away from her eyes as she stalked into her son's room; her hair had grown since her time in stasis, whereas it had once been a mere ponytail it now cascaded down her back in a curtain of brown. Jack had wanted to cut it, once_-as if she weren't already ostracized enough-_but her son certainly seemed to like it, his little hands were always fisting in her hair whenever she held him. Except when he was hungry. And, judging by the wails coming from his crib, her was very, very hungry.

In the last seven weeks she'd taken up residence in the village, laying claim_-squatting rights!-_to the rather large estate left behind by the village's last leader, the Yondaime Hokage. Those who'd dared to protest at the time had been dealt with...well, their bodies had. For all intensive purposes, Jack owned the estate. If anyone wanted to take it...yeah, good luck with that! Restraining a rueful chuckle; her spirits somewhat brightened by the ignorance and stupidity of the villages, Jack dipped her hands into the crib to retrieve her only child.

Naruto's cries quieted somewhat as his mother pulled him into her chest. Somewhat. He'd since grown used to being held by her, and if his mother's crass tongue bothered him, he did little to show it. It wasn't like he'd understand her foul oaths_-some of them in different languages altogether_-anyway, right?

He had his father's blond hair, but she was also pleased to see he had her eyes. And if he was anything like her and Shepard, he'd grow up to be one _hell_ of a biotic. And then there was the matter of that thing they had sealed inside him before she'd pried pried him away. Now, Jack knew _jack_ about chakra. She was a biotic. Always had been, always would be. So when the wrinkled old man tried to explain to her how crucial it was that her son had saved the lives of hundreds_-pocket change, compared to the works of his father_-she'd tried to be patient and listen. She really had. But when the old man started tallking about how important it was that he that Naruto, remain anonymous and receive the _proper _training and care...well, if the old coot had been able to have kids before, he certainly wouldn't be able to now, would he?

Bullshit and horseshit! She'd be the one to take care of him! Like hell she'd trust these jerkoffs with her kid! And that kid was screaming his lungs out!

_"Waaaaah!"_

"God, kid!" Jack groaned, her voice rising over the insatiable din. "I'll feed you in just a second, so why don't you just be quiet?!"

_"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"_

Naruto only wailed louder!

"Alright alright!" The psychotic biotic growled, undoing her top with one hand, exposing her tattooed flesh to the world. "Here!" She pressed him to her breast, wincing as his mouth clamored over her nipple. "Drink up." Her words softened It had been a disquieting experience at first, breastfeeding her son. They'd offered her a midwife of course...and she'd answered them with a vehement refusal. Now, as she held the suckling infant to her breast, Jack wasn't quite so certain that had been the right decision.

It would've been easy for her-so very easy-to leave this room and let someone else take care of the kid, but Jack just didn't have it in her. He was her baby. And to think she'd been protective of Rodriguez and all those other snot-nosed brats at Grissom Academy. Now...cuddling Naruto in her arms, holding him to her breast, she felt as though she would lash out at anyone_-at anything-_that dared to hurt him. God forbid some floozy of a girl broke his heart in the future! She'd break them in half! If anyone liked her boy, they had to be approved by her first! Her relationship with Shepard had been tumultuous at times, but at least she knew the big lug cared about her. Whereas she knew nothing about these people and there strange ways. Hell, she was still struggling to accept the fact she'd been stranded in the future!

And she didn't even know if the Reapers were truly gone.

_There_.

Naruto slowly stilled against her, his eyes drooping sleepily as he nestled into his mother's bosom. Jack couldn't quite keep the smile from her face. Somehow, she knew to rock him to sleep as only a mother would and could and so she did, whispering words of comfort to her child, voice soft as a pillow.

"Hush little baby...don't say a word...

Within minutes of her crudely crafted lullaby, Naruto had drifted back into restful slumber.

"You're gonne one helluva heartbreaker someday, little man...

**A/N: Well, I'm back again! Alright folks, I need to know your opinions: who should be in the harem? With Jack as his mother...Naruto is obviously going to grow up with his self confidence intact-and quite possibly the worst potty mouth in the universe. I think we can safely agree that he's going to turn out to be one hell of a biotic/shinobi in the future, isn't he? And, half the village fears his mother...as they rightfully should! And with that, and this regrettably short chapter, I am off to work again. Sorry about that whole donation thing I mentioned in one of my stories, I had not meant to offend anyone, and I've taken it down.**

**But are the reapers truly gone? Did Shepard defeat them? Or perhaps...I won't say anymore! We'll see a slight timeskip next chapter, and...potentially encounter some of the girls Naruto will be a' wooing towards later chapters! Who will they be?! With Jack as his momma, its bound to be interesting!**

**So, in the immortal words of Atlas...**

**...review, would you kindly?**

**R&R! =D**


	3. Like Mother Like Son

**A/N: I'm back! I've kept you all waiting, haven't I?! Sorry for that! My computer recently crashed and I lost a TON of data. But it is working again and as such I am proud to present you with the long awaited and much needed...**

**...next chapter of Harbinger of Destiny!**

_"Sorry, but you're just not the right kind of girl for my kid."_

_~Jack._

**Like Mother Like Son**

Many years have passed since that fateful day. Under Jack's care the child grew from babe to boy; her once bawling baby was now an energetic youth of fourteen years, with a mouth to match. Just like his mother. She still marveled at it to this day, Jack did. Unfortunately, he seemed to have inherited her penchant for mass destruction as well. Whether it was playing pranks or making trouble with his classmates, her offspring had the alarming tendency to summon up trouble when she least expected it.

Jack both knew and accepted this. Boys would be boys. Even so, she couldn't quite keep the smile from her face as she was led into the Hokage's office for what must've been the eighth time this week. One look at her son-standing across from her, gaze fixated firmly upon the floor-was enough to confirm her suspicions. He'd gone and played another of his pranks. Again. For a moment, she thought that was shame on his features. A closer look revealed otherwise; Sse thought she caught the smallest gleam of a smile, tugging on his features. He was upset that he'd been caught, yet proud of what he'd done. And why shouldn't he be?

_That's my boy._

Biting back on that same smile, she blew a strand of hair behind her ear. God, it was so _frustrating_ having hair again! More than once, she'd been tempted to shave the ebony tresses off altogether_-Naruto loved tugging them when he was a babe-_but something always held her back. The same could be said of her clothing. Today she'd chosen something simple_-apparently no one sold her brand of clothing in the day and age!-_aquescing to a pair of black slacks and a strapless mid-riff baring top that would've made most of the men in the village drool...had she not already broken their noses, simply for staring. Which brought her back to the matter she had at hand. How best to reprimand him? She was secretly proud of him

"Alright, what the fuck did he do this time, old man?"

Sarutobi blanched at her blatant disrespect; even after more than a decade he_-and Konoha-_were still experiencing growing pains, when it came the ways of this wild woman. He was happy for Naruto; the boy deserved a parent as much as anyone else...but why did she have to be such a bad influence on him?!

Growing pains indeed!

"He defaced the stone faces."

Jack couldn't help herself. She guffawed.

_"He did what?"_

"Kiba bet me I couldn't do it." The blonde offered, as though this explained everything. Jack bit back a groan. Boys and their bets!

"Lemme gues, was ramen involved?"

Naruto nodded meekly.

"Naruto, while I understand no one was harmed, I cannot condone what you've done-

Jack exchanged a withering glare with Sarutobi, preventing him from speaking.

Her official 'designation' in the village was that of a civilian; even so she knew she could kill half of these fucktards with merely a thought. After all, she'd squashed that Danzo fellow years before, without much effort on her part. And she'd been fresh out of stasis to boot! Thanks to her, Naruto had never lived the life of an outcast, sans his pranks, he was actually rather well liked amongst his classmates...with the exception of that shit stain of an Uchiha brat. Honestly, how could one kid have such a huge stick up his ass and still walk straight? She'd sooner tear her hair out than see her boy on a team with that jerkoff!

"Alright kid, what the hell happened?"

Naruto swallowed nervously, now well aware of his mother's attention. As well he should be!

"Well..."

_(Flashback)_

"Get back here, brat!"

"Like fuck I will, asshole!" Naruto turned in mid-leap to flash the pursuing Anbu a one-fingered salute, before swerving to grab hold of a nearby telephone pole. A gleeful cackle ripped itself past his lips and then he was gone, vaulting toward the rooftops. Youthful laughter exploded across the streets; more than one villager risked a gaze toward the sky, and shook their head as Naruto hurled himself into the air, his pursuers hot on his heels.

_"Catch me if you can!"_

Already distinctive by his black-crimson attire, the boy was made even moreso by the racket he wrought in his attempt to shake his dogged pursuers. Cursing himself for be found in the first place, he rounded a bend at top speed, bounding down the street as fast as his legs could carry him. It was in times such as these that he was-somewhat-grateful for the strict meat and potatoes diet his mother imposed upon him. To think, if he'd eaten ramen all the time, he never would've been able to outrun his pursuers!

He moved like a hurricane; stirring up trouble wherever he went. Crashing through stalls, bounding through halls, laughing all the way. And within good reason. Not only did he make complete and utters fools out of the Anbu Black Ops on an almost regular basis, but his pranks were the stuff of legend. Defacing the four faces was his greatest_-some might call it heiinous-_act of all time! Second only to his mother when it came to cursing his foul mouth was the stuff of legend in Konoha. And even _that _paled in comparsion to his temper which in turn wilted when matched with the inate ability both mother and son shared. Some called it a bloodline. Some tha ought it curse. And still others...

_...biotics._

"Stop running!" One of them, a violet-haired woman bearing the likeness of a fox-mask shouted at the boy's back.

"If you insist, Yugao-chan!" Naruto surprised them by doing just that.

He stopped.

The genin-to-be flung himself forwards, sandals skidding to a halt as he spun to face his pursuers. The pursuing Anbu had less than an instant to recognize the familiar motion; to see, to _balk_ as an eerie blue light leapt from the boy's fingertips a hairsbreadth later and swept towards them. Yugao's mouth had just started to form a curse when the field struck them.

"Shi-

_"Ha!"_ Naruto crowed, grinning from ear to ear as his pursuer stopped dead in their tracks. "Worked like a charm! I may have shitty chakra control, but at least I can do _this!"_ He waved his hands again and a singularity opened beneath the frozen guards, lifting them into the air as though they weighed naught but a feather. Naruto chortled softly to himself; he may not have been able to see the looks on their faces, but the sounds of shock and surprise made by the Anbu were still supremely satisfying, at least to him.

"And now for the finale!" he brought both hands down, pressing his palms against the rooftop. With a resounding thwack, the biotic _slam_ took effect just as the stasis began to wear off, carroming the unforunate trio off the rooftop and into one another, effectively stunning them. The academy student deigned them a few seconds to recuperate, and raised his hands and performed a low bow.

"Uzumaki Naruto, stop this right instant-

But the blonde wasn't listening.

"One more time!"

Try as they might the Anbu couldn't resist; they simply ceased moving, their features left rigid and stiff, as a _second_ stasis field engulfed their bodies, leaving them helpless, rendering them immobile. Naruto wasted no time in gloating, as the stasis field took effect. He had something else in mind. Still smiling, The boy dipped a hand into the pouch at his side and extracted a black marker. Whistling tunelessly to himself, he swiftly took hold of their masks, removed them, and set to work...

_(End flashback)_

* * *

"And that's how it happened."

There was a long silence as Jack contemplated how best to punish her son. She couldn't very well brush off what he'd done; something like this couldn't be ignored. She had no choice _but_ to punish him, even if she was secretly proud of her son's actions. Defacing the Four Faces and embarassing the shit out of the Hokage's supposed elite guard? Priceless! But if she didn't punish him she was certain the old man would, and no one _but no one_ punished her kid. That privilege was reserved for her!

"Grounded." She announced, her tone stern. "Two months."

"But mom that's not fair!" Naruto whined. "I have graduation tomorrow!"

Jack arched an eyebrow. How the hell did he manage to graduate? She knew next to shit about chakra, and, while she'd reluctantly allowed her son to be trained as a shinobi, the last time she'd checked, Naruto hadn't been able to form so much as a single decent clone. And yet there could be no doubting the confidence in his statement, the fire in his eyes. She silently resolved to question her son about that one when they returned home. She could feel the old fart's confusion as well. Best to distance herself from that...

"I'm your mother." Jack snapped back, jarring their attentionto her. "I don't have to be fair."

"But mom!"

"No buts!" Jack reached down to pluck her son by the ear, his cries of protest turning to pain as she dragged him out of the office. Naruto knew better than to resist, however. The last time he'd tried that, she'd nearly pasted him against the wall. The moment the door slammed behind them, however, all was fair game. She released his ear, but refused to speak until they'd left the Hokage tower far behind. Naruto brooded the whole way; evidently he was taking his punishment seriously. Jack let him sulk; let him think he'd screwed up until they reached their destination.

Their house was comparitively small by most standards, but hell, it was home. It even had a backyard, something most denizens of Konoha forsook in favor of larger homes. Jack failed to see the appeal herself; Earth had homes large and small, and she'd never once felt at home anywhere, save Grissom Academy with her kids. Turning the knob, she led Naruto inside, careful to take him by the harm before he could try and make a break for his room.

"Where do you think you're going, squirt?"

"Upstairs." Naruto grumbled.

"Why?"

"You grounded me, remember?" he groused.

"Oh for fuck's sake! You didn't think I was serious, did you?!"

"Um...yes?

Then and only then, did Jack took her only son aside and flashed him a small smirk.

"You did good, kid." She reached down to ruffle his hair. "Just like I taught you. Hell, I might even teach you how to make a shockwave at this rate." Then it occured to her. "So how the hell did you manage to graduate your class, anyway? I thought your chakra control sucked."

Naruto flashed a sheepish smile, one she had cometo equate with trouble.

"I...may have borrowed some learning material."

"Borrowed?" Jack's suspicion deepened. "And what, did you borrow?" Naruto's smiled faltered, but only briefly.

"I kinda borrowed...Scroll of Sealing." He blurted out, flinching as though he expected a reprimand. "But it was only for a little bit! Honest! I learned the Kage Bunshin no jutsu, so I should be able to pass the exam, no problem! R-Right?"

There was a long moment of silence as Jack processed her son's statement. Then she stood up. Was she angry? Naruto didn't have long to wonder:

_"You did what?!"_

"I put it back, I swear!" Her son exclaimed, flinging both hands up in protest. "They never even noticed it was gone! And it's not like I kept it or anything!" He cowered before her, arms upraised, as though he could somehow ward off her wrath. For all the good it did him. He had the succinct feeling this was going to hurt...

"Kid...

Naruto gulped.

"Y-Yeah, mom?"

_"I am so fucking proud of you!"_ Jack laughed, sweeping her son off his feet and glomming him in a furious embrace. "You have no fucking idea!"

"Ha?" Naruto blinked in surprise. "You mean...you're not angry?"

"Why the fuck would I be angry?!" Jack couldn't help herself; her son was every bit as devious as she was! "Your little shit! I can't believe you had the balls to go and do something like that! I swear, sometimes you remind me so much of-

"Of?"

Jack flinched. Set him down.

"Nah, its nothing." she shook her head. "Head out back. I'll show ya how to use a throw, alright?"

"Awesome!" Naruto practically left a smoke trial in his haste to make it outside. Jack shook her head and followed after him, smiling softly at the memory of Shepard.

She had no idea. No way of knowing. For after this day...

...everything went straight to shit.

**A/N: And there you have it! Naruto is just like his mother! One helluva troublemaker with a mouth-and a penchant for violence-to match! Any idea just who Jack should be paired with? With that temper of hers, and her lingering attachment to Shepard, I can't see her bowing down to anyone unless she deems them as worthy. And after much adue, and, having listened to your ideas, votes, and opinions, I have decided on the pairing for Naruto! I am proud to say...ITS A SECRET! You'll have to stay tuned for the next few chapters!**

**So...in the immortal words of Altas...**

**...review, would you kindly?**

**R&R! =D**


	4. Boys will be Boys

**A/N: I'm back! I've kept you all waiting, haven't I?! Sorry for that! My computer recently crashed and I lost a TON of data. But it is working again! I've recently played the Citadel DLC and as such those mass effect fans might notice a few things from that memorable piece of memory. This chapter's got a little bit of everything. Action, humour, romance and of course, Jack and Naruto! With that being said, I am proud to present you with the long awaited and much needed...**

**...next chapter of Harbinger of Destiny!**

_"Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are even worse than scum."_

_~Hatake Kakashi._

**Boys will be Boys**

_Straight to shit indeed!_

Such were Jack's thoughts when Naruto came home the following afternoon; wearing his hitiate as though it were a badge of honor, which, to him, it was. Personally, she would've preferred to get him inked in honor of graduating, but that wasn't the problem. Apparently, in their infinite_-bullshit!-_wisdom, someone had seen fit to pair her boy with the Uchiha shitstain and a shrieking pink harpie by the name of Haruno Sakura. Now the fact remained that the she knew relatively little of the girl, but she'd heard quite _enough_ of her mouth. The pinkette was nothing more than another one of the shitstain's fangirls; a mere child who cared more about her pretty face than any real combat training. She wouldn't haved lasted a _day_ against the reapers, let alone in the field! Neither would Naruto, with a teammate like her!

And then there was the matter of his sensei, Hatake Kakashi. If there was ever a more exapserating man on the face of this earth she'd yet to meet them. The man was an inrefutable slacker, as infamous for being late as he was for reading those evil orange books of his. And this man was going to be held responsible for her son? Like hell he would! If anyone was going to teach her son _anything _about women then it would be _her _not an indefatigable pervert like Hatake! She'd sooner kiss Harbinger than live such a thing down!

"I'll kill em!" she raged, throwing her mug down on the counter and stalking towards the door.

"Mom, you can't!" Naruto was pleading, hopelessly struggling to slow her pace by dragging on her jacket, but to no avail. "If you kill them I won't have a team!"

"Better a dead team than a shitty one!"

_"Mooooooooom!"_

"Quit it, kid!" Jack all but snarled as her son prevented her from storming out the door, "You're gonna tear the leather!"

She'd managed to reocnstruct her old Grissom Academy outfit over time, jacket and all. It felt good to show off her ink again, perhaps even moreso to have her full head of hair now bound back in a ponytail once more; preventing the unruly tresses from escaping as she paced the length of her apartment. Unfortunately, her old outfit did nothing to assauge her temperment. She was furious. Livid, to the point of asphyxiation. Honestly, what would Shepard have done in a situation like this? He'd probably have taken it in stride. But Jack wasn't big on taking things in stride; especially when it came to dealing with the bullshit of Konoha's council! What the hell did those jerkoffs think they were doing, pairing him with those two?! Were they _trying_ to get her boy killed?!

"Don't try to stop me!" The pyschotic biotic growled, shrugging off his feeble efforts to forestall her, "I'm going to smear the walls with that perv-

"The hell you are!"

Jack bristled as a biotic _pull_ washed over her body; a slow series of tingles prickling down her spine as her son forced her to slow for the first time since their arguement began. So that's how it was, eh? Fine. If Naruto wanted to play rough then so would she! Part of her was impressed: that he'd dared to swear at her, that he'd actually managed to impede her. The other half...well, not so much. She rounded on him with a hiss, fists clenched, body sheathed in a nexus of dark energy.

"Why you little-

Naruto didn't retaliate.

Instead, he simply stood there, palm outstretched, his chest heaving from his previous exertion. It had taken a great deal of effort from him just to stop her in her tracks. Jack could see he was in no shape to fight back and yet despite this_-or perhaps in spite of it-_he held his ground. Slowly, ever so slowly, he lowered the limb, folding his bare arms together before his chest.

"You're not going to do anything." He said, stonily.

"Oh yeah?" Jack bit back. "And what're you gonna do about it, little man? You gonna take down your own mother?"

Naruto flinched as though he'd been struck, but he did not waver in his stance.

"Look mom, I don't like it either." Her boy argued, his whiskered cheeks pinching in exasperation, "But sometimes you just have to take your balls out of your purse and hold the damn line, ya know?"

In that moment, Jack was suddenly and acutely aware of just how much her boy had grown over the years. In the past, he would've thrown a tantrum at the mere _mention_ of Uchiha Sasuke, let alone working with him. That he'd managed to somehow swallow both his pride and his resentment_-while she could not-_was almost enough to bring a tear to her eye. _Damnit_ he really was just like his father sometimes, wasn't he? Quietly, she reflected on her time with Shepard; on the same resolve she saw shining in her son's eyes. A sudden surge of emotion enveloped her, wrapping her heart in layer upon layer nostalgia.

"Ah, squirt."

"Wha-hey!" Naruto yelped in surprise as Jack bent to his level and grabbed him; summarily alarmed to find himself enfolded in his mother's warm embrace. "Did I say something?" Jack didn't deign to reply; she simply held her son, stroking at his hair with her fingertips. _Damn Shep, I wish you could see this kid._ Every day she saw more and more of her lover in him; of the only man who'd pierced the wall she'd thrown up around her herself_-around her heart-_and brought it crumbling down around her ears. Her boy was going to be one helluva ladykiller someday soon, she just knew it. Just as _she_ knew she wouldn't let a damn girl near him, without her explicit approval and permission.

"So what did the asshole have in mind?" she sighed, tying her finger in a stray strand of hair.

"He told us to meet him tomorrow for survival training at five A.M." Naruto admitted. "He also said...well, we shouldn't eat breakfast."

"Did he now?" Jack grinned; it was just like that asshole to play mind games with his students. "You gonna listen?"

"Hell no!" Naruto snapped back, a little too sharply. "There's no way I'm giving up your pancakes, even for a single day!"

"That's my boy."

"By the way," Naruto fidgeted, "I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"I was...um...wondering...

Jack frowned. It wasn't like Naruto to be this reserved.

"You gonna spit it out or what?"

...to."

"Sorry, didn't hear ya."

_"I said I want to get a tattoo!"_ Naruto all but shouted, the words bursting from his lips like a bullet from a gun.

"Seriously?" Jack arched an eyebrow, her anger momentarily forgotten. "You wanna get_ inked?" _She barely choked out the last word; when she'd inked Shepard, it had only been to send him off to his death against the reapers sometime later. Was she about to do the same to their son? If by inking him, was she somehow marking him for death, just as she had Shepard? Some part of Jack knew it was foolish to think that Shepard had died because of her tattoo; the very same tattoo she'd given him to make his body identifiable if worst came to worst...

_(Flashback)_

_"Good enough for an ID?" Shepard remarked, staring at the tattoo's reflection upon the screen._

_Jack felt a sob hitch in her throat. Good enough? Christ, didn't he get it? Didn't he understand?_

_"Good enough so that if you're ever hurt, barely breathing, lying under a pile of rubble at the ass end of this war, you're gonna have something that tells the galaxy that you belong to me! That-_

_"Hey." His arms encircled her abruptly, derailing her train of thought, wrapping her in a warm embrace, olbiterating all her fears. "You worry too much." Jack didn't fight his touch; she'd long since learned to lower her barriers in his prescence. It was nice like this, in his apartment. Just the two of them. Alone. But the thought of losing him drained the arousal right out of her. She couldn't bear it. She just couldn't. John was the only first one she'd ev er truly opened up to-her students and her pet varren Eezo notwithstanding-and the mere mention of having him taken away was enough to make her weak in the knees._

_"Maybe."_

_Slowly, tentatively, Jack allowed her own arms to rise, to circle round his bare chest. She pressed her head into his shoulder and stifled a sigh, willing her uneasiness to subside, her anger to abate, as she clung to him with all her might._

_"Shepard..._

_(End Flashback)_

_'Maybe I **do** worry too much.' _Jack dithered a moment longer, torn between pride and sorrow. Pride that her son was following the footsteps of his father and sorrow; that he might meet someday same untimely end as his progenitor. She couldn't risk losing him, too. She wouldn't.

"Mom?"

"You really want a tattoo, chibi?" Jack cursed as she stumbled over the last word; even after spending fourteen years in this godforsaken village she still couldn't quite grasp the concept of their language sometimes. Oh it was so damn annoying sometimes! Naruto's lower lip quivered at her curse, but he managed a nod.

"Well, shit!" Jack forced a guffaw, planting a hand upon her hip. "Whaddya want, a glowing fist or something?"

"Um...I was thinking more along the lines of this." Naruto proferred her his headband, indicating the leaf sigil imprinted upon the steel. "Maybe on my shoulder?" Jack bit back a caustic retort of her own; she knew just how much being a shinobi mattered to Naruto, how hard he'd worked to make this dream a reality. Who was she to burst his bubble? If he wanted a tattoo...well, damnit, then he was going to get a tattoo! Managing a nod, she retrieved her bag from the nearby countertop; despite being a backwater village, this place still respected the value of tattoo's...even if their methods were a bit mundane.

"It isn't going to hurt, is it?"

Jack's only reply was her soft, evil laugh. She could almost visibly see the terrified chills that it sent through her son, and that pleased her. If he was going to leave her home alone with the nothing to do while he went out and played shinobi, she would be sure he missed her the whole time. Dipping a hand into her bag, she extracted a long needle and bottle of ink.

"Alright now, hold still...and try not to cry." she grinned. "I'd hate ta hafta pin ya down with a stasis field."

Naruto looked crestfallen.

"M-Maybe this isn't such a good idea...

"You're not getting out of this that easily!"

_"Gwah!"_

* * *

Morning arrived with painful swiftness, but it did not catch Uzumaki Naruto unawares. He'd long since packed his gear; his pouch was loaded with various items ranging from shuriken to kunai, even a few hand-crafted smoke bombs were amongst them. He would use them if need be, but his true weapon was none of these._ It was his mind._ He flexed his fingers experimentally, wreathing them in a nexus of dark energy, savoring the warmth of stressed biotics as it spread down his spine. Whatever this survival training entailed, he would be ready.

He rose from the table and bid his mother farewell, having disregarded Kakashi's warning and eaten a full breakfast; Jack's pancakes were simply too good to pass up. Now he was as ready as he'd ever be. Kami willing he'd have a few surprises in store for the jounin besides a full stomach and the new ink on his arm.

And to think, he'd only cried a little!

"Kick some ass, kid." The boy bristled briefly at his mother's words of encouragement; stiffening only slightly when her lips pressed against his forehead.

"Mom!" He whined, "You're embarassing me!"

"Get over it!" Jack laughed; her son cringed as his mother punched him in the shoulder, right where he'd gotten inked. Ow!

"Y-Yes ma'am...

Naruto didn't care; he was proud of his new tattoo; the sigil of the leaf etched into his skin, standing boldly upon his right shoulder for all the world to see. Proud. It said _I am a shinobi_ and nothing could take that away from him. It throbbed slightly as he left the house and strode into the streets, a constant_-albeit slighty painful_-reminder of the change that'd occurred last night. Getting inked hadn't been especially painful but it wasn't entirely pleasant either, but the proccess was comparitively quick to what he'd expected. It'd left him with several hours to prepare for tomorrow's exercise.

Thust, he'd spent the last night fusing two of his greatest talents together; biotics and shadow clones. One shadow clone was a threat; a _kage bunshin_ that exploded into a singularity, leaving your target vulnerable to a barrage of kunai...now _that_ was even better. He was certain he could pull of the technique without fail...well, probably.

His legs carried him from the streets with swift, confident strides, eager to reach the training grounds, anxious to prove himself as a ninja. He wasn't surprised when he found himself the first to arrive; he'd left early for this express purpose. It gave him time to prepare. He knew this would be a survival exercise but only that; it wasn't as if he could set up traps or anything. No, his time was better spent in _mediation_ mentally preparing and channeling his inner energies for whatever might lie ahead. And thanks to that full breakfast he'd had, Naruto had energy to spare. He might even be able to pull off a Nova if he tried hard enough, although using it tended to tire him out...

"Ara?"

Naruto creaked open an iris, surprised to detect the sound of footsteps. He hadn't thought Sasuke or Sakura would arrive early. As it turned out, they hadn't. Instead of finding his teammates waiting for him, the newly minted genin found himself peering up from his crouch into a pair of warm, caramel colored eyes.

She wore her hair in Chinese-style buns on either side of her head, giving her an almost mouse-like appearance, were it not for the short fringe-bangs falling over her forehead protector. Her pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants were like nothing he'd ever seen; a blatant reference to the Chinese culture. He tried guessing her age. Fifteen? Sixteen? Bah! What did it matter!

The girl regarded him quizically, uncertain of what to say.

"Um...this _is_ training ground thirteen, right?"

"No, this is the _third_ training ground." Naruto frowned pausing in his meditation. "We've reserved this one for a survival exercise."

"Oh, sorry." the girl apologized, scrubbing the back of he head with a hand. "I must've gotten mixed up again."

"It's alright." Naruto made a shooing gesture, intent on returning to his meditation. "I'm sure they won't mind. Just don't do it again, ya know?" He scrunched his eyes shut, hoping the girl would take the hint and leave him be. Unfortunately, she didn't seem ready to drop their discussion.

"They?"

"My teamates." Naruto sighed as he rose from his crouch, realizing he wasn't going to get any peace with her around. "Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Perhaps you met them on the way here? We were supposed to meet here at five, but it seems I'm early." He sucked in a deep breath, doing his level best not to sound like an ass this time, "Look, I hate to break it to you, but I'm trying to prepare myself here and you're not helping me any-

"No way!" She exclaimed aloud, finally noticing his hitiate. "You're a genin?! Since when?!"

Naruto facepalmed. This girl...what would Shikamaru have called her? Oh, right. Troublesome! Very troublesome! _Extremely_ troublesome!

"Since yesterday." he admitted forlornly. "And who're you anyway, to ask me such a thing?"

"The name's Tenten." The brunette introduced herself without preamble, adjusting her _hitiate_ with her free hand. "_I've_ been a genin for at least a year now." She placed a hand on her hip and grinned a toothy grin, her pearly white flashing in the early morning light. "You can call me senpai, if you want." Naruto readily gave his own name in return although he deadpanned at the thought of referring to the girl before as his senior. She was a complete stranger to him; how could she expect to be adressed with such an honorific?

"Sorry," he replied. "But there's no way in _hell _I'm calling you senpai."

"Heh?"

Naruto blinked.

"Was it something I said?"

"Say...you wouldn't happen to be _that_ Naruto by any chance, would you?" An odd gleam entered Tenten's eyes; as if she were truly seeing him for the first time. Slowly, her fingers fell from her hip, slipping towards her weapons pouch; hovering just above the clasp as though she were anticipating an attack. "Uzumaki Naruto-san, right? Jack-sama's kid? The one with that special bloodline?"

"Jack-sama?" Naruto nearly guffawed; he'd never heard anyone address his mother with such...enthusiasm before. "And I wouldn't call it a bloodline...exactly...

"So, can you do it too?"

Naruto frowned, his embarassment wilting away in the warm breeze. She wasn't questioning his abilities, was she? There could be no greater insult; he'd heard it countless times in his younger days. _That ability doesn't make you a shinobi! Stop playing ninja, demon brat! You and your whore of a mother don't belong here!_ Jack had paid each and every naysayer back, tenfold for such insults, but there was nothing she could have done to purge such thoughts from her son's mind. And here Tenten was_-albeit untientionally_-calling up that very painful past merely by doubting him.

"If you mean 'that', then yes, I can." Naruto had to bite off the rest of his sentence before it degenerated into an insult. What the herll was wrong with this girl?! Was she _trying_ to make fun of him or was she really that dense to begin with? He was begining to suspect it was the former...

"Really?" she scrutinized him cooly. "I kinda doubt it."

Naruto's left eye twitched. She was! She _was_ questioning his abilities!

"Whaddya mean by that?" He let out in a fierce whisper.

"Oh, nothing! I'm rather curious though, are you really as good as everyone says you are...or are you just a fake?" Tenten wondered, rearing her head and starting to look around coyly. "I mean, you _look_ pretty normal to me," she pointed out, "Except for your clothes. And the hair. And the eyes. Oh, and the whiskers! I could just-

A muscle jumped in the blonde's jaw.

That did it. Nobody made fun of his whiskers! _Nobody!_

"Oi, Tenten-san."

"Hai?"

"You wanted to see my mother's ability...right?"

Tenten nodded eagerly.

"Then hold still!"

Naruto raised his hand and, before the kunoichi could draw a weapon, yanked Tenten off the ground with a viscious biotic _pull_ and held her there leaving her dangling helplessly in the air. The result_-at least to him-_was completely and utterly priceless. "Wha-hey!" Tenten squealed in surprise. "What're you...how are you...p-put me down! Put me down right now!" But Naruto did not put Tenten down. Instead, he chose to levitate her a few inches higher, silently reveling in the kunoichi's discomforted expression as he did so.

"I believe you were saying something about my whiskers?"

"Ahahahaha...I don't recall...

_"Oh?"_

"S-Stop!" Tenten pleaded, pinwheeling her arms helplessly as he raised her higher still. "Seriously! Knock it off! I'm not good with heights!" She couldn't help the chill that ran up her spine as the blond showed her one of the most devious grins she'd ever seen in her life. Scary! Perhaps she shouldn't have pissed him off. The ball of dread in her gut only grew more pronounced as Naruto raised his free hand, his fingertips wreathed in a dark nexus of glowing light.

"So you don't like heights, eh?" the genin asked cheerily, gesticulating with the fingers of his right hand, "Then if I were to do this...

"Moh, alright alright!" The kunoichi wailed as she rose another inch off the ground. "I'm sorry! I am! Really sorry!"

"Really?" Naruto frowned.

"Yes, really!"

"Then how does it feel?"

"It feels...trippy." Tenten admitted. "I'm kinda buzzing all over."

"Exactly." Naruto replied. "Nice, right? I can feel that way on a whim. Do you find it relaxing?"

"Uhhh...kinda," she squirmed in midair, "Among other things."

"Heh, it looks good on you." he chortled.

"That's not funny!"

"Oho, I find it quite funny." Naruto deadpanned.

"Okay, you've had your fun and I've answered your questions!" Tenten wailed. "Put me down! Now! Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

"Alright, alright." Naruto relented, gradually lowering Tenten to the ground. "But only because you asked nicely." At once, the azure glow fled from the girl's skin and bled into the air, leaving the kunoichi to skitter back from him, scrubbing her bare shoulders in cold discomfort.

"Brr!" She shivered, hugging herself tightly. "Does that ability always make you so cold?"

"Not really, no." Naruto said. "Hey, don't give me that look! The numbness should wear off in a few minutes."

"Th-Thanks ever so much." Tenten mumbled through chattering teeth before straightening. "Now that we've gotten past introductions, I have a bit of a confession to make; I knew this was the wrong training ground to begin with. Gai-sensei told me you'd be here, but I never thought you'd be this early. Lucky!" She finished with a wide grin as disarming as it was charming, leaving Naruto utterly at a loss for words. Indeed, the blonde blinked rapidly at her confession; how the hell was he supposed to respond to that one? And who the hell was-

"Gai...sensei?" Naruto frowned, realizing he'd inadvertantly spoke the words aloud.

"Ara, did I forget to mention that?" Tenten scrubbed the back of her head with a hand in sheepish embarassment. "He's...hmm...how should I put this? I guess you could call him Kakashi's rival, of a sort. I usually don't support their shenanigans, but when he told me the son of Konoha's legendary "Psychotic Biotic" would be here, I just had to see for myself."

Naruto sweatdropped at the mention of his mother's unofficial title. He knew her reputation had garnered her a fanbase among the younger kunoichi...he'd just never expected to meet one up close and personal. Really just what the hell was he supposed to say now?

"Oi oi...

Unbidden he found himself planting a fist on his hip and chuckling softly; it was an old habit he'd picked up from his mother, a habit meant to strike fear into the hearts of her enemies. Judging from Tenten's expression it'd done its work.

"Have you been stalking me?"

"N-Not at all!" she sputtered. "Alright, maybe a little!"

"Why?"

Tenten merely shrugged, offering the blond a shrewd smile, "Call it...curiousity."

_"Tch."_ Naruto frowned, wondering just how much he should reveal to this strange kunoichi. "Curiousity, huh?" While he understood that his ability had the tendency to attract more attention than it was wont, he wasn't particuarly thrilled to show off for a fan. Only...Tenten didn't strike him as a fan. She, seemed genuinely interested in his biotic powers, perhaps even moreso than his mother's. A wan smile played across his lips at the thought. Maybe he could show off for her. Just a little.

"Lemme show ya something." He strode forward to one of the three stumps at the far end of the grounds; chose the middle one, and leapt upon it.

"Alright now, watch closely."

Naruto waved his hands at the kunoichi before slamming them down on top of the wooden stump. There was a slight cracking noise from one side of the stump, and Naruto had to hold back a wince. He wasn't hurt, but he hadn't meant to slam his hand down that hard. Poor stump.

Making sure his features were set in a neutral mask, he turned back to look at the kunoichi once again.

"Throw a kunai at me."

"Ha?"

"Just throw something!"

Tenten grimaced at the thought; would he be able to dodge in time? But the blonde's expression did not waver, not in the slightest. _Fine then,_ she mused. _Its your funeral..._

"Alright...but don't blame me if you get hurt!"

Naruto clapped his hands twice and a barrier snapped into place between him and the offending projectile; deflecting the knife as though he'd slapped it aside himself. An errant thought and he's snared the knife before it could fall, a meager feat for someone with more than a decade of biotic experience under their belt. _Alright,_ He held it there a moment longer, cradling it with his mind, basking in Tenten's surprise. _I should be able to throw it back-there!_

A subtle nudge of his mind sent the knife careening towards its owner, tip first. For a moment, as he beheld Tenten's stricken expression, Naruto feared he'd flung it too hard. That fear was all for naught as the kunoichi reached up and snatched it out of the air without so much as a backward glance, circling the deadly dagger around her finger.

"Che!" she tsked softly, shrugging at his accomplishment. "Not bad, newbie." Then she smiled. "Say...how long can you maintain that barrier of yours?"

Naruto gave a shrug of his own, "As long as I need to." Yes, he was rather proud of his barriers. Years of ruthless training under his mother had left him able to sustain them for at least several minutes. Maybe he could strengthen them with chakra? Until last night, he'd never given much thought of mixing chakra and biotics; he still didn't know whether his singularity clone would function properly under pressure. He'd never sustained one under duress before-whoa!

Blue eyes bulged as Tenten unfurled and opened a pair of scrolls, from which she unleashed a withering barrage of ranged projectiles. The number of them_-the sheer volume-_was staggering to comprehend; so much so that his concentration slipped; that lapse almost proved fatal. His barriers burst like so much glass befoe the onslaught, leaving nothing but air between him and the violent volley. They hung there for the span of three beats, time slowing to a crawl as the blond realized his own peril.

Naruto's eyebrows almost jumped up all the way to his hairline.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" He yelped, pushing chakra into his legs and leaping backwards, even narrowly evading the first wave of weapons. "Timeout, timeout! That's way too many, ya know!" He couldn't help but wince as a number of them slammed into the stump he'd occupied only a moment before; skewering the wooden log. Poor log. And then he was above and beyond it, his airborne somersault carrying him to safety, that is, until a shadow fell over his face in the early morning light. Despite himself, Naruto blanched.

When the hell did she get up there?!

"Got you!" Tenten beamed as she hung above him, a brace of shuriken flying from her fingetrips to make their mark in his chest. Naruto bristled. Not enough time to make a barrier, at least, not a solid one. He crossed his fingers, digging as deep into his chakra reserves as he dared.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

_Poof!_

With a loud pop a single shadow clone burst into existence, falling beside him. Naruto didn't have to say anything; the kage bunshin was already aware of its shortlived purpose. It was a simple matter to have the clone grab his shoulder and wrest him out of harms way. He tucked and rolled as he struck the ground and came up _swinging_ a kunai flying from his outstretched hand. The projectile almost immediately found itself deflected by another well-placed shuriken hurled by the kunoichi; but its purpose had never been to strike her. A distraction meant to divert her attention. Naruto reached out with his biotics and, even as comprehension dawned in the kunoichi's eyes, grabbed her with his mind and _slammed_ her to the ground. Tenten's body bounced once, rolled, and lay still.

To her credit, the biotic body-blow didn't knock her out.

"Shadow clones, eh?" the kunoichi staggered to her feet with a laugh; standing woodenly, not taking enough care, her fingers dabbing at a thin line of blood running from her mouth. "Didn't know you knew that one."

"I'm full of surprises." Naruto crowed, crooking his fingers at her. He was actually starting to enjoy this. In all his fourteen years, the most he'd ever used his biotics for was to spar with his mother or to escape from the Anbu squads that inevitably found him after one of his many pranks. Never once had he pitted himself against someone without the intention to run away.

"Is that so?" She reached out to slice a nearby rope with a kunai; and then all hell broke loose.

Naruto risked a glance over his shoulder and just in time; as rain of shuriken descended upon him, striking his hastily erected barrier such force that his knees actually buckled. Even as he struggled to shore up the wall he was suddenly aware of her prescence behind him, of another volley at his right. Left with little choice, he abandoned the barrier and lurched backward; just as the sinister throwing stars whisked past his hiding place a hairsbreadth later. _Shit,_ he mused as a shuriken opened his cheek, _she really is persistent, ya know?_

"What's the matter?" Tenten called out to him, her lilting voice rising over the din of the barrage. "I thought you could hold that barrier as long as you needed?"

"Not like this, you crazy bitch!" Naruto laughed, but his words were without vitriol as he continued his tactical retreat; bobbing and weaving as he skipped backwards, flinging up a barrier whenever one or more of her weapons came too close, which was a great deal more often than he would've liked. "You're hardly giving me a chance here!" Tenten bristled at the remark, clearly offended that he would mock her whilst in the heat of battle; that a mere male had managed to dodge all of her weapons; let alone live long enough to insult her. From there it would've been a simple matter to _pull_ her from her feet and end their little game; alas, Naruto didn't want it to end.

Unfortunately, Tenten did.

"Hai hai, that's enough for today." With a gesture she sealed her weapons, countless knive and shuriken and kami-knew-what-else vanishing in a plume of smoke. "Wouldn't want to wear you out before your survival exercise, newbie." Naruto tilted his head to the side, the universal way to go 'huh?' but with no response immediately forthcoming, he was left to wonder why they'd suddenly stopped. He still had energy to spare; was Tenten truly bowing out for his sake? He watched her, wary as she sealed her scrolls and bound them in her pouch. Even so, he wasn't prepared when she fixed him with a sudden stare.

"We should do this again sometime." she said.

Naruto looked away, surprised by the sudden rush of heat in his cheeks. "I'd like that, actually." _What the hell?_ Why was he blushing all of a sudden? Why did it matter? He continued to stare at Tenten, his first true sparring partner other than his mother, and he wondered at her. Her dirty, sweat-streaked face was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. "Yeah, me too." she breathed, still staring intently at him. "You're pretty good, for a newbie, that is. Your shuriken throwing could use some work, though."

Naruto couldn't help himself; he laughed. Here was someone he actually enjoyed speaking with; such conversations had been terribly few and far between. Aside from his mother, he really only ever spoke with the old man, and even then that was on rare occasion. He almost kicked himself for even _thinking_ of sending her away in the beginning. And was she offering to help him with his shuriken?

"Is that an offer?"

_That_ snapped the brunette from her slight daze, and she tossed him a cheshire grin before turning around and making for the exit.

"Maybe."

"Heh?"

Tenten's tinkling laugh came from the entryway.

"See you later, newbie!"

"The name's Naruto!"

"Whatever you say, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto watched her go, his lips quirking in a slight smile.

"Tenten, huh?"

"Who were you talking to?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks, his face slowly appearing over his shoulder as he curiously regarded the one who had spoken. A look of irritation crossed his single eye as it regarded the brooding avenger standing behind him. Uchiha Sasuke had finally arrived. Idly, Naruto wondered whether he'd witnessed his brief bout with Tenten...well, it probably wasn't very likely.

"No one."

Sasuke glowered a moment longer, taking in the scarred and ruinated state of the training grounds, but said nothing. It was clear he suspected something however. He was just about to open his mouth to speak when-

"Sasuke-kuuuuun!"

Naruto bit back a groan; there could be no mistaking that voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Uchiha cringe. He almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"Ohayo, Sakura." He mumbled as a courtesy.

"Hmph!"

The pinkette didn't pay him any mind; she only had eyes for Sasuke. Naruto's teeth sank into his lower lip with enough force to draw blood. While it was true he'd once had a crush on the pinkette, her incessant ranting about her precious, "Sasuke-kun" had long since stripped away any semblance of feeling he had for her. He preferred someone who _didn't_ fuss and fidget over little things like hair and makeup; someone who took their pride as a shinobi seriously. That someone was not Sakura. But that was no reason not to be civil. Steeling himself, Naruto resolved to try one last time.

"Look, I know we don't get along, but, I wanted to wish you good luck-

"Oh please!" Sakura scoffed, her eyes narrowing to jade slits. "Sasuke-kun would wipe the floor with you!"

A muscle jumped in the blonde's jaw. Enough was enough. He'd tried to be nice. He'd tried to be civil. Hell, he'd even tried to speak with her! But that insult was one too many. A crimson curtain draped itself across his vision, obliterating all else. He strode forward with a snarl, the act of which sent Haruno reeling in surprise.

_"Whaaat?_ Where the hell do you get off talking to me like that? You don't know shit about me!" Naruto's voice was angry and Sakura shrank back, a little surprised at his ferocity. "Oi, see that tree over there?" He flung a hand toward a nearby oak, fingers crackling with barely contained power. "I could _smear_ you across it in the time it'd take you to blink! And what can _you_ do, eh? Perform a flawless bunshin? _Suuure,_ that'll be a great asset to the team! At least Sasuke's good for something other than spewing bullshit! Unlike you, pinky!" He took a deep breath to calm down. "Look...just, forget I said anything, alright?" From the faces of the others, it was painfully clear that he'd crossed a line; there could be no taking back his bitter words, but they all remained silent.

Grumbling to himself, the biotic blond moved to a distance beyond his teammates. He'd promised himself he'd keep a level head but when faced with Sakura's blatant disregard for anyone other than Sasuke, he couldnt help himself; he felt nothing but disdain for both her _and_ her actions. Perhaps Jack was right. Maybe he was better of working by himself...

The sound of footsteps intruded once more upon his silence; jarring him from his reverie. He didn't have to look to recognize them; he knew Sakura wouldn't dare come near him after that last outburst, so that left only one other person.

"Could you seriously do that?"

Naruto arched an eyebrow, not so much surprised by the Uchiha's words as he was his prescence. He hadn't expected the Uchiha to approach him, let alone speak to him. That he had suggested they shared a common bond in their inherent dislike of Sakura. Huh. The realization almost brought a small smile to his lips. Who would've thought they actually had something in common?

"Yeah, I could smear the cheerleader." he admitted, his gaze reluctantly sweeping back toward Sakura. "Pity she didn't give me a reason to."

"Hn."

Naruto nearly did a double take. Was that a smile just now? No, of course not. Sasuke never smiled. Ever. He didn't think it was even remotely possible-

"Hi fellows. Good morning."

Naruto nearly jumped clear out of his skin; one minute Kakashi wasn't there, and the next, he was, standing before them. He hadn't even sensed his prescence! It took all he had not to jump back in surprise; to shiver a little bit at the thought of having this man for a sensei. He repressed a shiver at the idea. No! Jack had taught him better. He refused to be goaded, refused to show weakness in the face of his sensei. Though the sun had since risen and the skies had already brightened to a cheerful morning blue, the blond couldn't quite shake the numbness he felt inside.

Just what was their sensei up to?

"Late!" Sakura snapped.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path so...

"..."

Realizing his lie wasn't going to get him anywhere, the Jonin coughed into his fist.

"Lets move on, shall we?"

Pulling a small clock from his pouch, he set it upon a nearby stump and pressed the trigger.

"Alarm set at twelve PM."

"Today's topic is to get one of these bells from me." Kakashi explained. "Whoever can't will have no lunch!" He indicated a series of nearby stumps, their scarred faces showing that they were oft used for shuriken and kunai practice. "I'm going to tie you there, and eat lunch in front of you." Naruto had to bite back a smile at the grimaces of his soon-to-be teammates. Unlike them, he'd eaten breakfast. One needed a full stomach to wield biotics effectively, after all. But something was off. Why were there-

"Why are there two bells?" Sakura asked, the obvious question before he could think to do so himself.

"Since there's only two," Kakashi smiled behind the mask, the act of which caused his visible eye to dip closed into an upside-down u shape, "at least one will have to be tied to the log. That person will fail since he failed to complete the mission. The person will go back to the academy. It might be one or all three. You can use your shuriken, jutsu, traps, or any other abilities you might have. But you won't be able to get these unless you have the will to kill me."

"But that's too dangerous, sensei!" Sakura exclaimed!

Once, Naruto might've agreed with her, bragging as to how their sensei had failed to dodge a certain chalk erase. Now, he merely held his tongue.

"In society, those who don't have many abilities tend to complain more." Kakashi waved her comment aside, "We're going after I say "Ready, start", understood?"

_'Back to the academy, huh?'_

Naruto exchanged a terse glance with Sasuke. There was no way he was going home_-or back to the academy-_empty handed! Jack would have his ass for dinner! He'd no way of knowing what the Uchiha was thinking in that moment, but he had the succint feeling Sasuke shared his sentiment. Abruptly, an idea dawned in his mind. Two bells. Three of them. His first instinct was to grab a bell for himself-he'd be damned if he ended up a dropout in the academy-but something stilled in him at the thought. Kakashi surely wouldn't send the three of them back to the academy so easily; but why bring only two bells? Each team was made of four members at any given time; three genin and their jounin sensei. A three-man team was unheard off.

Naruto knew he was missing something here. He just knew it. But what? Ah, screw it! He'd figure it out sooner or later!

He rolled his shoulders and beckoned, an easy smile tugging at his lips.

"Sorry sensei, but you'll need more than that to rile me."

"I'd expect nothing less of Jack's boy." Kakashi's eye turned down in a smile. "You seem awfully confident. But do you really think you can get a bell from me?"

"Oi...

"Don't get so hasty." Kakashi scolded. "I didn't say start yet. But, it looks like you already have the will to kill me now, don't you? I think I can finally start liking you three."

"You gonna blab all day or what?" Sasuke sighed in exasperation. "Let's get this thing started already!"

"Alright then," Kakashi raised his arm, "On my mark...ready...

_"Start!"_

**A/N: And there you have it! Naruto's a tad more mature in this-who wouldn't be, being raised by Jack-but he's still a little hellraiser underneath it all. Kakashi's about to learn that the hard way! I see you've also noticed dear reader, that Naruto's disdain for Sakura matches his mothers. There won't be any bashing, but suffice it to say, Naruto won't be following after Ms. Haruno like a little lost puppy as he originally did in his younger years. The pairing is still under wraps! But I promise I won't dissapoint! Jack still has some emotional baggage from losing Shepard-is he truly dead?-and watching Naruto grow up and act so much like his old man isn't helping matters any. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I did my best to stick to the characters, and I think I got it down pat. Once more, I promise this pairing will be a unique and interesting one! As I'm sure you've noticed their team dynamic is already skewed; with Naruto and Sasuke's attitude there's bound to be a degree of conflict with Sakura...**

**So...in the immortal words of Altas...**

**...review, would you kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview!**

**(Preview)**

_"A basic for ninja is to conceal his prescence and hide. Good, everyone is hidden nicely..._

_...except you."_

_Kakashi turned his attention toward Naruto; the boy had yet to move from his place in the field. If anything he seemed resolute. Smug, even._

_"You might as well hand me that bell, sensei."_

_"Looks like your talents are exceptional." Naruto bristled as Kakashi's voice rose from beneath his feet, praising him for the near miss. "But-_

_"Shit!"_

_The genin-to-be snarled as he was dragged down,_

_"They say that stakes that point out get driven back into the ground." Kakashi pulled out his orange book once more._

_"Psych!"_

_Naruto cackled as his features abruptly began to twist and bulge; his visage distorting as though gravity itself were sucking in, pulling him inward. Naruto gave a gurgling chuckle and then he was gone, detonating into a swelling singularity. "What the?!" Kakashi balked at the sudden anomaly; balked as the gravity well swelled upward, the sudden loss of gravity lifting the startled jonin from his feet._

_The original wasted no time._

_Even as Kakashi struggled to right himself Naruto was already surging forward flinging the lengthy stasis field like a whip, buying a few precious seconds. His fingers had only just closed around one of the bells when he sensed Sasuke beside him; apparently, great minds thought alike. The Uchiha had recognized his plan and sought to take advantage of it. Naruto almost opened his mouth to snap at the Uchiha and tell him off, thought better of it. And then the Jonin's right hand smashed into his stomach, the blow meant to jarr both boys and their grip on the bells._

_Naruto cried out not in pain but in triumph as he flew backwards; the sudden force having somehow served to sever the string binding the bell to Kakashi's waist. A swift glance at Sasuke confirmed that the Uchiha had likewise managed to secure a bell before being knocked back, now clenched tightly within his fist. Ground. The impact obliterated all sentinent thought._

_Naruto struck the ground with a grunt, tucking and rolling, determined to protect his prize at all costs. _

_"Hehehe." He dangled the bell triumphantly before his face. "Looks like I pass, baka yarou!"_

**R&R! =D**


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